World famous butcher, Dario Cecchini is traveling to New Orleans for two days this May to host a series of events at Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse and Tableau, including a butcher workshop and multiple dinners. Dario was invited to New Orleans to experience how Italian culture permeates the city by his apprentice, Richard Brennan III, fourth generation of the New Orleans famed Brennan restaurant family.The title “World’s Best Butcher” is frequently used to describe Italian butcher, Dario Cecchini. Some of the most revered names in food worship his work. He hails from Panzano in the Chianti region of Italy and his family has a legacy of more than 250 years as butchers, passing the trade down from one generation to the next.

Dario has practiced nose to tail butchery for the past 42 years and believes his work to be an ancient art that involves respect for the animal. There are no premium and lower cuts of meat but rather all parts of the animal are useful if butchered and prepared in an appropriate manner. At this point in his career he sees his role as a teacher and educator. “I am in the phase in my life as an artisan where I feel the need to give away everything I have learned and sow the seeds for the future. It gives me great joy to share my work. I look forward to the pleasure of returning to New Orleans for my second time. A wonderful city—full of positivity and energy, good food, good wine, and lots of great music.”

Richard Brennan III, has had the honor of working as Dario’s apprentice in Panzano over the last year. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Richard’s passion for butchering brought him to Italy to train and work with Dario. Many of the skills he learned with Dario he has brought back to the team at Dickie Brennan and Co., particularly to Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse.

“Learning from Dario has created a shift in the way I approach food and my role as a chef—seeing the animal as a whole and not just a few select cuts. It’s simply amazing what you can create if you have the knowledge and tools. I’m excited for Dario to share this with the New Orleans culinary community,” said Richard Brennan III.

Dickie Brennan & Co. has always partnered with local farmers, fishers and ranchers, but the renewed energy and perspective Richard returned with has ignited a spark. For example, guests at Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse will see “Oyster Steak” as an entrée. This is a cut of beef that comes from the side hip joint and is not commonly seen on menus but is tender with great flavor. This is just one example of making the effort to use the entire animal, rather than just choice cuts.

Dickie Brennan & Co. chefs have also recently met with a Louisiana rancher raising wagyu. As a team they are exploring how to use less well-known cuts throughout the four restaurants. Richard Brennan III is leading the charge to establish increased connections with farmers, and ultimately provide superior quality to guests. He’ll be the first to tell you that his education under Dario goes far beyond butchering techniques and includes an entire philosophy of respecting the animal, of its life, of its death, and consciously using everything to the very last tendon. Attendees of the following events will get first-hand experience of Dario Cecchini’s larger than life personality and philosophy.

Butcher for a Day with world-famous Italian Butcher, Dario CecchiniDate: 5/8/18Place: Dickie Brennan’s SteakhouseTime: 10 a.m.-NoonPrice: $100Description: Gain access to the ‘best butcher in the world’ when Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse invites Dario Cecchini into their restaurant. The Butcher for a Day event mirrors the popular experience Dario offers guests visiting his shop in Panzano, Italy.

Guests will see Dario demonstrate his skills preparing a side of Louisiana beef and pork for the following event, a Butcher's Dinner at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse. Not for the faint of heart, this close-up view of a master butcher at work is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Only 100 tickets available.

Steaks from the event will be auctioned off to benefit the Louisiana Restaurant Association’s Educational Foundation and the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation.

Butcher’s Dinner with Dario Cecchini, Richard Brennan III Date: 5/8/18Place: Dickie Brennan SteakhouseTime: 5:30-'tillPrice: $165 (early bird tickets available until March 31 or until sold out. 100 tickets only)$200 (after March 31 or after first 100 sold)Description: After a once in a lifetime butchering demonstration by Dario Cecchini, the beef and swine prepared will be the focal point of a coursed meal prepared by the famed butcher and his team who have traveled to New Orleans from Italy. Working alongside will be 4th Generation Brennan family chefs Geordie Brower and Richard Brennan.

Hosted at Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse, the courses will be paired with wine selections from Castello di Ama, one of Italy’s most famous wine producers.

Last month, the LRA hosted a Members-Only event, “Employment Law 101” with Fisher Phillips LLP, Postlethwaite & Netterville and Arthur J. Gallagher. The sessions covered the most common wage and hour violations, discrimination and harassment, FMLA, ADA and the importance of an employee handbook, the role of HR consultants and how they can augment a restaurant operation and what insurance options you might consider. Each description contains a topic by minute guide.

​This video is not intended to provide legal advice. For specific legal or other advice, we encourage members to contact your attorney or other professional or contact the LRA Communications Dept. at (504) 454-2277 or email Communications@LRA.org to be connected with the LRA General’s Counsel for Employment Law Fisher Phillips LLP. This video cannot be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of the LRA and the presenters.

LRA SIF Members: Here is the latest video in the LRA SIF Series on preventing slips, trips and falls—the most common type of claim our Fund receives annually. To aid our SIF participants and members, we produced this quick two-minute video on the factors that culminate in these types of accidents and how they and their employees can prevent them.

In an effort to communicate with our members beyond just the written word, these videos are designed to help all of us relay valuable information that they otherwise might miss. With the rise in smart phone usage, members can easily watch it from the palm of their hands.

We invite you to watch this video and share as you deem necessary. We will share it in the SnapShot on Monday, share it on our social media and website as well.

As is common practice in recent years, as the 2018 Mardi Gras season kicks into full swing this weekend, expect increased enforcement measures to be taken by the Fire Marshal to ensure premise capacities are being adhered to and by the ATC to curtail alcohol and tobacco products being sold to individuals under the age of 21. To avoid citations and possible license revocation, please review these friendly reminders for establishments, particularly along parade routes, that are licensed to serve alcoholic beverages.

Maintain adequate security.

Develop a plan to ensure that minors are not served alcohol or tobacco products.

Develop a policy and educate employees on identifying proper identification.

Ensure that you have obtained special event permits for any events outside your licensed premises (i.e., in the parking lot, etc.).

Ensure that your alcohol and tobacco inventory is purchased from licensed wholesale dealers.

Ensure that all permits are current and clearly visible.

Remember that ATC agents may enter your permitted location at any time.

A K-9 may accompany agents during their inspections.

With the sheer volume of parade-goers flooding the French Quarter, St. Charles corridor, Veterans Memorial Blvd. in Metairie, and other cities across the state, safety of your staff and customers is of the utmost importance during the revelry.

Here are some tips from LRA members who've experienced restaurant ownership during Mardi Gras for decades:

Be aware of your surroundings at all times. This goes for everyone!

Regardless of the time of year, servers carrying cash are encouraged to leave the restaurant in groups, travel in well-lit areas, carpool if possible, avoid flashing cash and do not walk while using a smartphone/cell phone.

Managers and staff are encouraged to move their vehicles closer to the building once the shift has ended and prior to closing procedures.

Keep side and back doors locked and alarms set when not in use.

Make trash runs before lunch and dinner shifts and make sure they are not done by just one staff member.

Use camera and security systems.

Don't leave valuables in plain sight in your vehicle.

​If there's a tip we've overlooked that you'd like to share, please email us here.

Each year, we ask the LRA SIF participants to ask their workers to complete an updated “Second Injury Fund” questionnaire. Employers should also have new employees complete the questionnaire. Both of these practices can help us mitigate claims cost to the Fund. If an injured employee is found to have an existing health issue or past injury that could contribute to the current injury, we can apply to the Second Injury Fund for supplemental coverage. If approved, this can reduce the overall cost of the claim for the employer and the Fund as we receive certain reimbursements to the claims expense.

The Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Second Injury Fund was created to encourage the employment of physically handicapped employees who have a permanent, partial disability by protecting employers’ group insurance funds from excess liability for workers’ compensation for disability when a subsequent injury to such an employee merges with his preexisting permanent physical disability to cause a greater disability than would have resulted from the subsequent injury alone. La. R.S. 23:1371.A.

If a claim is accepted by the Second Injury Fund, then eligible medical and indemnity benefits are reimbursed by the Fund after the following deductibles*:

$25,000 in medical benefits

104 weeks of indemnity benefits

This means that your loss ratio and experience modifier are not changed with the large loss. Instead, the loss is capped at the deductible amounts.

*If the proper form is used, certain criteria are met, and an employee fails to answer truthfully, then the employee may forfeit his/her right to workers’ compensation benefits.

Since 2013, a 100 percent compliance with the Second Injury Board Knowledge Questionnaire has been one of five requirements for LRA SIF members to be eligible to receive a safety dividend. This post-offer medical history questionnaire must be completed and on file for all employees. Medical questionnaires should be periodically updated by employees.

Access the questionnaire in English and Spanish. For more info, contact the Loss Prevention Department at (504) 454-2277.

It’s audit time! Because your workers’ compensation premium is based on payroll, each and every policyholder must partake in an annual premium audit as stated in your Indemnity Agreement. The annual premium audit is simply a review of your records to ensure that you pay only the premium necessary for your business’ exposure. The Louisiana Restaurant Association Self Insurer’s Fund (LRA SIF) would like to make the premium audit process as easy as possible for everyone involved. Preparing in advance and having the proper documentation available at the time of the audit will help ensure that the audit is completed quickly and accurately.

You will be contacted by mail during the first quarter of 2018 by the LRA SIF or our audit service company NEIS Inc., who recently acquired McGuffey and Associates. Mike McGuffey and his staff will continue to be a part of the audit process as the Gulf States Regional division for NEIS, Inc., with additional resources to better serve you. The audit service will contact you by mail or phone to set an appointment. This correspondence will provide you with a name and phone number of the auditor to reschedule if the appointed date is not convenient for you.​This year, the LRA SIF will use five types of final premium audits:

A physical audit, during which the auditor will meet with you or your representative to review your records and submit the audit report and supporting documentation to the LRA SIF.

A phone audit, wherein the auditor will contact you to discuss and receive fax or email payroll records that will be submitted to the LRA SIF.

A virtual audit, consisting of telephone and in depth email correspondences.

A mail-in audit which consists of an audit form that must be completed and mailed back to the audit service or the LRA SIF with supporting documentation for processing.

Internet audit, processed through a secure audit portal for uploading the payroll information.

To keep the audit process simple and speedy, have your journals, ledgers, check stubs, 941s, 940, state unemployment records, cash disbursements, W2s, 1099s and certificates of insurance ready before the auditor contacts you. The auditor will review these records and will request copies of your 940, 941s and state unemployment wage reports to submit to the LRA SIF along with your audit for verification purposes.

If you have any questions, please contact our Premium Audit Department at (504) 454-2277, (504) 636-6529 or (800) 256-4572.

New Orleans has long been a leading innovator and destination in the culinary world. With the official groundbreaking of New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute (NOCHI) – a new $32 million culinary and hospitality institute set to open its doors at 725 Howard Avenue in 2019 – it now appears to be doubling down on further advancing its position for the next 300 years.

With the support of the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) providing equipment for the facility; a commitment from Tulane University to launch new programs in hospitality entrepreneurship at NOCHI; and a 2017 cooperative endeavor agreement with the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority, NOCHI closed on additional financing from Fidelity Bank, IBERIABANK, Enhanced Capital, and United Fund Advisors last week. The successful closing of the project’s financing fully funds the renovation of NOCHI’s historic five-story, 93,000 gross square feet space in New Orleans’ Central Business District already under way by Woodward Design+Build, general contractor for the project. Designed by Eskew+Dumez+Ripple architecture firm, the school will include five dedicated teaching kitchens, a beverage lab for wine and spirits programs, a retail café space on the ground level, separate classroom and office spaces for NOCHI and Tulane University, and a stunning event center on the fifth floor with its own showcase catering kitchen and terraces boasting breathtaking views of downtown New Orleans.

NOCHI is already licensed by the State of Louisiana’s Board of Regents to offer rigorous, hands-on post-secondary certificate programs in Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry Arts developed in conjunction with CIA Consulting. With 650 hours of instruction provided in just twenty weeks’ time, NOCHI’s programs are designed to provide a greater return on investment of time and money for aspiring chefs seeking higher wage jobs in the industry. Envisioned from its inception as a long-term platform for diverse partnerships that advance culinary and hospitality scholarship and training, NOCHI plans to announce additional training partnerships and programs after the institute opens.

NOCHI was co-founded in 2013 by Ti Adelaide Martin, co-proprietor of The Commander’s Family of Restaurants; Dickie Brennan, award-winning restaurateur and co-owner of Palace Café, Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse, Bourbon House and Tableau; and George Brower, tax credit specialist and developer of $125+ million in commercial ventures including the Saenger Theatre and La Petit Theatre in New Orleans. “This is what the New Orleans hospitality industry has always dreamt of,” says Board Co-Chair Ti Adelaide Martin. “NOCHI is where culinary and hospitality careers will begin, where business minds will be nourished, and where we’ll teach the New Orleans brand of hospitality and fun.” Other current members of the Board of Directors include David Blitch, Edgar Chase III, Deborah Elam, Barbara Mollere, and Michael Smith.

A key component of NOCHI’s operations will be programming designed to drive culinary tourism for New Orleans and enrich the local community through engaging learning experiences. Locals and visitors alike will be able to immerse themselves in a wide variety of seminars and classes ranging from Knife Skills 101 to New Orleans Cocktails. “New Orleans is a world-class destination for food lovers, so it is only fitting that we offer enthusiast-related experiences designed to be both educational and fun,” says Co-Founder Dickie Brennan.

With a year long construction under way now, the institute will shift its focus entirely to fundraising and program execution. Says Board Co-Chair and Treasurer George Brower, “Not only are we committed to completing our capital campaign before we open, our goal is to raise enough funds and support to ensure the long-term success of this incredible school that New Orleans has long deserved.”

Effective on January 1, 2017, all covered establishments must submit information from their completed 2016 Form 300A by December 15, 2017. In 2018, covered establishments with 250 or more employees must submit information from all completed 2017 forms (300A, 300, and 301) by July 1, 2018, and covered establishments with 20-249 employees must submit information from their completed 2017 Form 300A by July 1, 2018. Beginning in 2019 and every year thereafter, covered establishments must submit the information by March 2.

Because this is the first year, The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will continue accepting 2016 OSHA Form 300A data through the Injury Tracking Application (ITA) until midnight on December 31, 2017. OSHA will not take enforcement action against those employers who submit their reports after the December 15, 2017, deadline but before December 31, 2017, final entry date. Starting January 1, 2018, the ITA will no longer accept the 2016 data.

The grand prize winner will receive up to $25,000 for tuition and other qualified expenses, as well as an assortment of Rachael Ray cookware. Three runners-up will receive a $5,000 scholarship and Rachael Ray merchandise.

“Yum-o! ® has three parts to its organization: Cook, feed and fund,” Ray explained while announcing the contest. “We fund education with the help of our wonderful partners of over a decade, the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. They help us give scholarships to deserving kids.”

The distribution and administration of the scholarship prizes provided by Rachael’s Yum-o! ® Organization will be coordinated with assistance from the NRAEF. The Foundation is dedicated to training and advancing the next generation of culinary leaders. One of the NRAEF’s largest programs is ProStart ®, a nationwide high school career and technical education program uniting the classroom and restaurant industry. 140,000 students are currently enrolled in the program, which is offered in more than 1,800 high schools in all 50 states. The Louisiana ProStart program is currently in 56 schools with about 1,100 students.

“This is a great opportunity for students to take a step out of the classroom and explore what the hospitality industry can offer as a profession,” says Rachel Bolotte, LRAEF ProStart Coordinator. “Learning such a necessary skill in life and turning that into a career is a wonderful achievement.”

To enter, students must submit a video of themselves preparing an original recipe and an explanation of why they think they should win. The contest closes on Monday, December 4, 2017.

As a partner in Food Safety with the state’s Department of Health, the LRA is the largest provider of food safety and sanitation. Since 1999, when the state legislature mandated as least one person at each foodservice establishment complete the eight-hour course, ServSafe®, the LRA has trained over 35,000 industry employees in the principles and techniques to maintaining a safe environment for patrons to dine.

ServSafe is a nationally-approved curriculum developed by the National Restaurant Association and offered year round by the LRA. ServSafe is a nationally-approved curriculum developed by the National Restaurant Association and offered by the LRA’s staff of trainers weekly across the state.

“This is a trusted food safety program with roots in the foodservice industry,” said Pam St. Pierre, VP of Member Services. “ServSafe is designed to help you protect your customer’s health, improve employee performance and preserve your restaurant’s reputation.”

“We have a team of Certified ServSafe Instructors that collectively have over 100 years of restaurant industry or regulatory experience,” said St. Pierre. “They are seasoned food safety and sanitation experts and provide practical, real-world experience to complement your training.”

Primarily managers go through the eight-hour course, while ServSafe Food Handler is offered for front and back of the house staff in a condensed session of two hours.

In 2011, California mandated that all foodservice employees complete the ServSafe Food Handler and more states and municipalities are looking to adopt that practice. In the first year, the California Restaurant Association trained more than 350,000 restaurant staff in the two hour course, which is also offered online.

ServSafe Food Handler covers five sections including basic food safety, personal hygiene, cross-contamination and allergens, time and temperature, and cleaning and sanitation.

For information about the ServSafe Suite of Training Products and member pricing, visit the LRA website here.